​2026 California Water Law Symposium
Charting Our Course: ​Local & State Solutions for Safeguarding
California's Waters in a Time of Federal Turbulence

8:30 - 9:15 AM
Check-In & Continental Breakfast

9:15 - 9:25 AM
Welcoming Remarks
  • Water Law Symposium Chairs
  • Water Law Symposium Board Members

9:30 - 10:45 AM
Panel 1: Frameworks for Addressing Transboundary Governance Issues
  • Buzz Thompson, Professor, Stanford University Law School
  • JB Hamby, Colorado River Board of California
  • Meredith Nikkel, Downey Brand (moderator)

~ 10 minute break ~

10:55 AM - 12:10 PM
Panel 2: Mechanisms for and Barriers to Providing Safe Drinking Water in Vulnerable Communities
  • Felicia Marcus, Stanford University Water in the West Program Fellow
  • Ana Schwab, Best, Best & Krieger (moderator)

12:10 - 1:00 PM
Lunch

1:00 - 1:30 PM
Keynote: State of the Bay-Delta in the Context of Federal Turbulence
  • Adam Keats, Attorney, Law Office of Adam Keats

~ 10 minute break ~

1:40 - 2:55 PM
Panel 3: State and Federal Approaches to Reforming Hatcheries to Further Salmon Recovery
  • Darren Mierau, Director of Science, California Trout
  • Rebecca Akroyd, General Counsel, San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority
  • Karrigan Bork, Director, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences (moderator)

~ 10 minute break ~

3:05 - 4:20 PM
Panel 4: Watershed Health and Federal Deregulation
  • Jeremy Lowe, San Francisco Estuary Institute
  • Jessica Davenport, California State Coastal Conservancy
  • Richard Roos-Collins, Co-Founder & Principal, Water and Power Group PC (moderator)

4:20 - 4:30 PM
Presentation of the 2026 California Water Law Writing Prize
  • Nell Green Nylen, Board Member, California Water Law Symposium

4:30 - 4:40 PM
Closing Remarks

4:45 - 6:00 PM
Reception at the UC Law SF Skydeck, 333 Golden Gate Avenue, 5th Floor
Copyright © 2022 California Water Law Symposium